Mailboxes and tubes for the reception of newspapers are traditionally mounted on a post adjacent the roadway in rural areas of the United States. Indeed, in many suburban locations the same is true because of the postal regulations limiting delivery to the door. These mailboxes are often a substantial distance from the house. This is not a problem on a dry summer morning when one goes to the newspaper tube to pick up his morning paper. However, it is a minor problem when it is snowing, the temperature is 5.degree. F. and the wind is blowing 20 mph. However, that is not the real problem. The real problem is having to make that trip more than once in the morning. The homeowner knew of the problem when he built the house and he knew he would have to make a trip out to that newspaper tube which he put up to keep the newspaper dry, but there is no present convenient way for that poor homeowner to know when the newspaper man is late in arriving.
Therefore, it is desirable to have some simple, convenient, easy to install signaling mechanism which will indicate to the homeowner that the paper has or has not been inserted into the convenient newspaper tube prior to the time the homeowner leaves his front door.
There are several spring actuated devices disclosed in the prior art and most are associated with mailboxes. Also, most are actuated by some mechanical connection between the door of the mailbox and the actuating mechanism. Additionally, most are bolted or riveted to the mailbox itself.
The bolting or riveting of a separate metallic device to the painted or galvanized mailbox does two undesirable things. The first is that it exposes the hole surface to the atmosphere because the steel that defines the surface of the hole is then exposed to the elements even though one may attempt to seal the hole. Obviously, the tighter a bolt is clamped, the better the seal is to the hole, but the harder it is to rotate the arm which is held to the mailbox by said bolt. The other problem is axiomatic, that is, no matter how good the seal, the hole will eventually leak and the water will get into the box and thereby moisten the inserted printed matter.
Another problem with the prior art devices is the plurality of moving parts to accomplish the desired result. Pivoting metal parts inherently wear and corrode and within a short period in the rural northern climates, particularly where salt is used on the highways and inherently splashed upward onto the mailbox from time to time, the metal parts will corrode and become inoperative. Replacement every year or so is not a practical solution.
There is a need for a simple device which will signal to the homeowner while he is still inside his home that someone has delivered the newspaper or the mail, but which signaling device will be simple of operation, have a minimum of moving parts, and not be prone to the corrosion inherent in the previously disclosed apparatus which attempted to solve the same problem.